Well if business were always this exciting maybe I'd pay more attention. It's finally time for Grayson Global to elect a new CEO. Will Conrad retain control and keep his son out of danger? Or will Daniel manage (against the odds) to out-maneuver his father and win?

None of the above! No, this episode is all about how bad-ass Daniel thinks he's being with his own scheming. Little does he know about all the strings the real grown-ups are pulling behind his back. But he's showing promise as future Grayson creep, I'll give him that. Too bad it's a future without Ashley, poor thing. You guys, this is our last taste of Revenge until after the holidays!

So, the beginning was a little hard to follow (was anyone else trying to get their kid to STAY in bed during the first 10 minutes?). But if I understand correctly, Nolan is sacrificing Nolcorp to Grayson for the Great Revenge Cause. But don't worry -- Nolan says he's got something up his sleeve that'll ease his pain. Something about being a Trojan horse -- nice. I wonder what his plan is?

There's a new guy in town, and he's a big fish investor named Salvador. He gets to vote on Conrad vs. Daniel, but he's actually just managing his wife's money. One of those little details they hit you over the head with a few times since they use that info later. Did you miss that?

And poor Conrad and Victoria -- they did not bring their A game, did they? The Initiative lady calls to let them know that if Conrad doesn't get voted on the board they're dumping him for Daniel. And if they try to interfere they'll just kill Daniel. No pressure!

Aw rats, just like we knew would happen, Marco is here to screw things up for Nolan. Marco didn't tell Daniel that the "missing" money was for Amanda. Phew! But now Grayson has a 51 percent controlling interest in Nolcorp, as expected. The other icky part? Daniel didn't bring Aiden along for the sabotage.

Daniel is distancing himself from Aiden because Ashley's been turning him against Aiden. (Why? Did I miss something between them? Someone tell me.) Anyway, remember how Ashley used to be a prostitute? SIGH.

Of course there's a video of Conrad and Ashley doin' the do. Time to deploy! Oh, but surprise, Emily sends it to Victoria first. Victoria confronts Conrad (whatever, infidelity, old news with those two) and they decide it's the Initiative trying to drive a wedge between them.

Which means: Time to send Ashley off to do the do with Salvador so he'll vote for Conrad. She's willing to cheat on Daniel because Victoria has that video. Poor Ashley... she's so screwed. Literally and figuratively.

Because now Aiden gets to send Daniel off to catch her in the act. And Daniel can blackmail Salvador into voting for him because's now he's got video he can send to Salvador's wife! (Remember all those references to the wife's money?!?) And Daniel thinks he's all smart, like this was his idea or something. He has no clue he's being played like a little sock puppet. Doy, Daniel, remember when you wanted to be a POET?

In other Revenge news, we finally understand why Nate and Kenny invested in the bar. Their dad was the man who confronted Jack's dad six years ago -- and then turned up dead with the man named Matt killed him. (P.S., the only black character on this show besides Ashley.) Turns out Nate and Kenny think Jack's dad did it. And Jack finds this all out after Nate and Kenny beat the life out of him. His dying words are to warn Jack and to tell him the gun used to kill Nate and Kenny's dad is on the boat. Yup, it's still there. And you know what? This particular storyline is boring.

I don't know... the boardroom politics, The Initiative, Jack and the bar. I kind of liked this show better when it was more about cat fights and people sleeping with each other. Can we go back to that, please?

Anyway, my other favorite part, besides watching Daniel strut around like some guy who Knows What's Up, came at the end. Emily and Aiden, reclining with their wine before the fire like the gods that they are. Musing about happiness and ordinary mortals. It's now that I realize that of course it would never work between Emily and Jack. Or Emily and Daniel, for that matter (even if the preview hints that they'll get back together -- I'm sure she's just using him). Both guys are too simple for her.

Have we seen the last of Ashley? And what do you think Nolan's plan is?